Each Day

It's true that I am most inspired by early mornings... So when I awake around 5:30am to set out for another day through the Meseta, I begin to recount the  moments of beauty I hope to never forget.

(And then later, when I'm not so inspired, I return to this list...)

The brightness of the moon shining over the path greeting hazy-eyed pilgrims who search for yellow arrows to follow on the day's course

The  hushed chatter of strangers becoming friends in their own language amidst the overhang of trees and silent path before them

The first sign of a steeple indicating the next village as it slowly appears in the distance over the hill. Upon spotting it, thoughts begin to brim with the hope of a cafe, bocadillo, or jamon for hungry & tired pilgrims

The rhythm of my stick and the crunch of the ground as I walk solo

The music of birds outside my window as a cool breeze floats in during a hard-earned siesta

The long pilgrim afternoons bringing Camino walkers together in the courtyard of an albergue as we share the day's thoughts over San Miguels, vino tinto, and games of poker

Exploring Spanish towns, fiesta-ing, talking to locals, running into recognized peregrinos on the streets as if you live there

The relief and exhaustion that comes when you take off your boots, topple onto your bunk, and slowly move towards a cold shower

The sweat and the pain and the kilometers unending

The landscape of vineyards and mountains against hues of red & purple in the morning sky. Pops of blue and purple flowers like a blanket across the earth 

Tired pilgrims awaking to alarms as they shuffle with headlamps to pack it all up again, to walk again, to desayuno again, to head straight on to Santiago again and again and again...